Diner plans fundraiser after show more skin' post

A plate of loaded potato skins served at the Atomic Grill in Morgantown, W.Va., is shown in an undated file photo. Owner Dan McCawley is donating proceeds from potato skin sales this weekend to a West Virginia rape crisis center network after a customer posted an anonymous comment online that servers at the diner needed to ěshow more skin.î (AP Photo/Atomic Diner, Dan McCawley)

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — After a customer suggested that servers at a West Virginia restaurant needed to “show more skin,” the owner became offended and decided to do something about it.

Owner Daniel McCawley of Atomic Grill in Morgantown is donating all proceeds from the sale of loaded potato skins this holiday weekend to a West Virginia rape crisis center network.

McCawley, who opened the barbeque restaurant last June, said a customer made the anonymous suggestion in a now-deleted post on an online review site.

McCawley, who has a wife, a 12-year-old daughter and five sisters, said the post “just kind of hit home.”

Advertisement

“I took some personal offense to it,” he said.

Atomic Grill will offer a plate of four potato skins for $7 — two buffalo chicken-style and two pulled pork. Proceeds from sales Saturday through Monday will benefit the West Virginia Foundation for Rape Information and Services, which has nine crisis centers across the state. McCawley suggested that donations also could be made directly to the foundation.

McCawley said the skin remark was part of an online comment in the past month in which the customer also mentioned his server in particular. After McCawley became aware of the comment, the server was given a protective escort to her car in the parking lot after the end of her shift for a few days as a precaution.

“The whole thing was a little bit creepy,” McCawley said. “We’re about good food and good service. It shouldn’t be about how much you can see of our servers to dictate the enjoyment of your meals.”

Publicity surrounding the fundraiser has prompted supportive calls to the restaurant from as far away as Alaska and California, and McCawley said he’s gotten emails from Japan and Ireland.

“It’s good that people out there won’t stand for this brutish mentality anymore,” he said.